Chapter 24 #2
“Yet it was, and your weak excuses don’t mitigate the fact that my entire northern flank is gone,” Kremlyn growled, his heated gaze flicking from Ophelia to William. “Along with the revenants from the Inchisoare we sent below ground—both dispatched at your suggestion.”
Jena’s father tsked. “Again, with all due respect, that would be directly attributable to Gideon Sperry, which whom I’m afraid you’re responsible for involving in this venture.
And pardon me for saying so, but it was a rather glaring lack of foresight on your part recruiting a gargoyle in the first place, especially one without ties to a node. ”
He held up a hand forestalling whatever Vesper was about to say.
“But be that as it may, I’ve managed to salvage the situation.
The node’s guardian won’t give you issues, and here’s your runaway, as promised.
Now, that, along with getting your troops into the town proper, upholds my end of the bargain.
I believe I’m owed some quid pro quo before we are at quits? ”
The two vampires glowered at him before Vesper pulled a small pouch from her waistband and tossed it at him. “Then we are at quits.”
“Marvelous.” William grinned, fingering whatever was inside through the fabric. His grin widened, and he tipped his hat, then was gone.
“I don’t trust him,” Vesper muttered, staring at the empty space where William had just stood.
“No, but whatever he’s planning on doing with those centipede eggs, it can only be to our benefit,” Kremlyn muttered, back to staring at Ophelia. “And as I said, it won’t be long now. Prepare her. I want the gargoyle to see her as mine before he dies.”
Vesper’s lips tightened. “As you wish.” She clapped her hands and silk rustled, her attendants descending on Ophelia. Pairs of smaller, smooth hands grasped her limbs, scoring her with their sharp nails and carrying her away, deeper into the bowels of the ship.
Gideon’s fist tightened around his phone, resisting the urge to wing it out over the rooftops.
He had little doubt Ophelia was aboard one of the ships making up the vampire’s fleet, but to attempt to get her on his own was a death wish.
There was no way he could survive flying out over the ocean to search for the right one.
He roared his frustrations into the heavens, but it was as useless as he.
Damn it, he needed more intel, and the only person that might have that was Jena.
He grabbed his coat and glided to the street below, Chase’s truck already running in front of the shop.
Gideon landed, his wings shimmered from existence.
He pulled his coat around himself and climbed in the passenger seat.
The door was barely closed before Chase peeled away from the curb.
“There’s clothes in the back,” he said.
“Thoughtful of you.”
“Not really, just prepared. It’s a shifter thing.”
Indeed. Gideon pulled on a pair of sweats and a horrendously stained Henley. The truck flew through the abandoned streets, toward the shimmering curtain of light bubbling around the town.
Chase swore, crouched over the steering wheel. “You think getting through the ward is gonna be a problem?”
“Only if the node makes it one.” Gideon’s jaw tensed. And if it did, things were going to escalate quickly. “In either event, I would suggest slowing down when you get there.”
Chase grunted, the speedometer dipping as they squealed around a corner, and the ward cut across the road ahead of them.
“Here goes.” He drove straight for it, the vehicle slowing to a crawl as they passed through and came out on the other side. “I guess the node doesn’t mind us leaving.”
He floored it again, and Gideon frowned, not sure that was the case. Despite the coven channeling its power, the node’s presence had been distant and distracted. It seemed almost…disconsolate. What the hell was going on with it?
“Issue?” Chase asked, glancing over.
Gideon shook his head. “I don’t know. Ever since the Jena and Ophelia were taken, the node’s been strangely preoccupied, like it’s unhappy about something.” His phone pinged, and he scrambled for it.
“That your guy?”
“No,” Gideon frowned. “Judge Carey. He forwarded my recommendations with the evidence and allegations I sent him earlier to the Department of Justice. It looks like they’re going to take up the case against Fayet and the tribes, which would make Havers a witness in the case.”
“That’s good news, right?”
“Theoretically. If I have any say in the matter, there won’t be anything left of the tribes to prosecute.”
Chase snorted. “From your lips to God’s ears.”
He took a sharp corner, and the node’s power riffled over Gideon’s skin as sharply as it had earlier, the wards leading to the ruins still in place.
He frowned. Despite Matilda’s assertion that she’d seen all three of them here, the barriers held no taint from being breeched.
His frown deepened. That meant that whoever had been here, the node had let in.
What the devil are you playing at?
The node didn’t answer, just that faint sense of remorse prickling through him.
Chase skidded to a stop at the end of the drive and threw the truck into four-wheel drive.
They humped along the path they’d taken only yesterday leading to the back of the tor.
Once parked, the two rushed up the slippery snow-covered hill to a walled garden behind a rambling mound of stones.
Gideon clenched his teeth, the sorrow and anger still radiating from the ruins setting him on edge.
Dark doings had happened here, and the land still wept.
He followed Chase through the thick drifts and along the garden’s spiral path, tripping over canted pavers and detritus hidden by the snow.
Sweat stippled Gideon’s brow as they crossed a small bridge and skirted around a tall stone wall to an opening at its end.
“Jena!” Chase cried, darting through the break and into a large circular patio ringed with seven standing stones. A large bonfire crackled at its center. He ran to his wife, crumpled against an upright pillar and swept her into his arms. “Baby, baby! Wake up!”
Gideon scanned the area, his heart in his throat. After what Matilda had said, he hadn’t expected Ophelia to be here, but her absence still cut him to the core. He slowly crossed the wide stone pavers, the power of the node thrumming uneasily beneath his feet.
What did you do?
What we had to… came a faint reply laden with apology.
Gideon growled, resolute. Then I shall do the same.
He stopped at Chase’s side. Jena was wan, but appeared unharmed. Her brows furrowed, and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Chase? Gideon?” She started, trying to push up, then winced, a hand at her abdomen. “Where’s Ophelia and my dad—oh God.” She clutched her head as if it pained her, then looked at Gideon. “He took her to Kremlyn.”
Gideon’s guts wrenched, and he clenched his fists. Of course, the fiend had. “Tell me what happened,” he gritted out, completely bereft of patience. His anger rolled off him in waves, and the two of them cringed back from him as if it were tangible.
Jena’s throat bobbed. “We were in the basement and my dad appeared. He said the vampires were coming through the Below. I-I didn’t believe him, but Ophelia did and pushed me at him, then we were here.”
“She was right,” Chase murmured against the crown of her head. “And you’re gonna be pissed when you see the stockroom.”
“The basement isn’t any better, but no one will be getting through that entrance again,” Gideon added, with no intention of cleaning either up.
Jena bit her lips and looked like she was about to cry. “I asked him why we were here, and he spouted some line about having a bargain with the node, and chaos maintaining karma’s balance, the ends justifying the means—”
Gideon drew back, hissing in a breath.
“Do you know what he was talking about?” she asked.
He ignored the question. “Was that when he took Ophelia?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” She nodded, wiping her eyes. “He said she had someplace to be, and that someone was waiting for her.”
Gideon’s phone pinged, and he raked it out of his pocket.
It was another text from that unknown number, this time with coordinates.
They tagged a location a mile, mile and a half from the shore.
Gideon’s jaw tightened. It would be close, but…
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to talk himself out of flying out there on a suicide mission and knowing it was already done.
“Was that information on my dad?” Jena asked.
“No. That was coordinates of where I’m assuming Ophelia is. If they’re legitimate, she’s on a ship just off the coast.” He blew out a breath. “And I’m going to get her back.”